FLAME - uncle of Stuxnet and Duqu..,

[Auburn Boy]

New Computer WORM attacking computers systems throughout the middle east.

FLAME, as it is dubbed by Kaspersky, may be 20 times more comlex than Stuxnet. (Maybe that's why it took so long to identify and isolate it.)

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/flame/

There is some serious cyber-warfare going on. This may have been commissioned by the same entities (presumably state organizations) to attack the Iranian nuclear operations. The highest number of systems suspected to be infected are in Iran.

“Stuxnet and Duqu belonged to a single chain of attacks, which raised cyberwar-related concerns worldwide,” said Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, in a statement. “The Flame malware looks to be another phase in this war, and it’s important to understand that such cyber weapons can easily be used against any country.”

I can't wait to see more on the analysis of this one..,

[Kassy]

I really wonder if it's just the middle east.

I also wonder how much more there is around.

And of course who's stuff this is. They say US/Israel for stuxnet which is logical because it targets Iran's reactors. This implies they have been spying on the region with similar stuff but i don't know why it would end there.

[Sysiphus]

Originally Posted by Kassy

I really wonder if it's just the middle east.

I also wonder how much more there is around.

And of course who's stuff this is. They say US/Israel for stuxnet which is logical because it targets Iran's reactors. This implies they have been spying on the region with similar stuff but i don't know why it would end there.

Given how interconnected everything is, one has to wonder how it would possibly just infect the ME. Unless there is some common vulnerability that is unique to the systems there.

[Catbird]

This article from the NY Times seems to suggest that it's spread primarily, or only, via USB stick. IF that is the case, then it would make some sense for it to be kind of geographically specific.

And, if it is spread only via USB stick, then it also provides intelligence data on the routes that information is shared - from who and where to who and where.

This thing is getting more and more interesting.

[Dreamweaver]

Israel Hints They Are Behind Powerful “Flame” Super-Virus

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...n-7800935.html

[Potemkin]

Determine the Presence of Flamer Malware in Your System and Remove it with BitDefender’s Removal Tool

http://techdows.com/2012/05/bitdefen...amer-worm.html

[Auburn Boy]

Flame connected to Stuxnet..,

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-wo...ran-2010-flame

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab, which first reported the virus Monday, believe Flame was written by a different group of programmers from those who had created other malware that targeted computers in the Middle East, particularly those in Iran. But Flame appears to be part of the state-sponsored campaign that spied on and eventually set back Iran's nuclear program in 2010, when a cyberattack (stuxnet) destroyed roughly a fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges.

I hadn't heard THAT about Stuxnet..,

[flourbug]

Attacks need not be by bombs any more. Nice.

[Lars]

I heard you catch it on Facebook.

[Kassy]

No that's Privacy AIDS.

[Catbird]

Lots of interesting detail in this Wired report.

[Sysiphus]

My biggest question at this point is how many others are out there lurking. China must have a few on systems.

[Catbird]

A security hole in Windows? Say it ain't so...

"Flame virus can hijack PCs by spoofing Windows Update"

"The infamous Flame virus can infect even secure PCs by tricking them into believing its malicious payload is actually an update from Microsoft.

As we already know, Flame has gained traction by tapping into security certificates for Microsoft's Terminal Server. Though they appear to be digitally signed by Microsoft, the certificates are actually cooked up by the people behind Flame, thereby tricking PCs into accepting them as legitimate.

Microsoft and Symantec revealed yesterday that the virus can up the ante by using the fake certificates to spoof Microsoft's own Windows Update service. As such, Windows PCs could receive an update that claims to be from Microsoft but is in fact a launcher for the malware."

[Oric]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygree...aeli-creation/

[Oric]

Obama ordered cyber attacks against Iran

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/wo...iran.html?_r=1

[flourbug]

Obama ordered cyber attacks against Iran

Isn't that an act of war?

I am sure, if the shoe was on the other foot, that the US would see it as such.